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He was quite a 1st Baseman for the Athletics. Does anyone have any memorable stories about him and his time in the ML? He also played for the Chicago White Sox.

c.

My first baseball bat was a Ferris Fain model. boy did I love that bat. Fain was a good hitter, with not much power. I believe he led the American league in hitting a couple of times. He was also a pretty good fielding first baseman.

What exactamundo is going on here? What is Ferris looking at? Why the little Mona Lisa smile? Why is he backed up against the wall like that?

..... few know that after retiring from baseball Ferris Fain - broken-hearted because Jane Russell had abandoned him for Howard Hughes - became a professional mercenary. Captured by anti-government guerrillas in the little-known foreign country of Nocomprendo, he was sentenced to be shot. The rebels honored his last request: that he be allowed to wear his old Philadelphia Athletics uniform before the firing squad ...

Fain nicknamed "Burrhead" won consecutive AL batting titles in 1951 (.344, when a broken foot held him to 117 games) and 1952 (.327). Although those were the only two full seasons in which he hit .300, he also hit .302 in 1954, when a knee injury limited him to 65 games and started the decline that cut off his career a year later after just nine seasons. His career high in HR was just 10 (1950), but he led the AL in doubles in 1952. However, his greatest value lay in his ability to get on base: his on-base percentage was above .400 every year of his career, finishing at .425 lifetime. He walked 100 times in five seasons, and was in the AL top five every season he was healthy; only once did he strike out more than 37 times in a season.

Fain was considered the best-fielding first baseman in the league until Vic Power came up. Although he tied the AL record by leading in errors five times, he was a daring, far-ranging fielder who was the first first baseman to regularly field bunts on the third base line. He holds the ML record for double plays in a season with 194 in 1949; it broke the previous record by 31 (his 192 in 1950 is second). He set the since-tied AL record for double plays in a nine-inning game (six on September 1, 1947 in the second game). He led the league four times in assists and twice each in total chances per game and double plays, and ranks third all-time among first basemen in assists per game.

A few years prior to his death he was charged with growing marijuana on his property. The New York Times in a brief obituary, eulogized two-time American League batting champion thusly:

``He had a drinking problem, got into barroom brawls, and three decades after leaving baseball was sent to a state prison in California for growing marijuana.,''

Added Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated: ``Other than that, he was good people.''

Ferris Fain

Unfortunately, Ferris is now often linked to his marijuana conviction later in life. Here is how it came about.

He had some land near Placerville, California and was tired of seeing all the neighborhood hippies getting rich growing pot. Times were difficult for him financially so he thought he might as well make some money too. He started growing some plants on his property. A next door neighbor saw the plants, had no idea what they were but thought they were pretty, dug one up and planted it in his front yard. The police saw it and asked the neighbor where it came from. The unsuspecting neighbor said his next door neighbor (Ferris) had a bunch of them.

Ferris mellowed in his later years and was confined to a wheelchair. But on the field he was just as likely to pick a fight with his own teammates as he was opposing players.

Fain nicknamed "Burrhead" won consecutive AL batting titles in 1951 (.344, when a broken foot held him to 117 games) and 1952 (.327). Although those were the only two full seasons in which he hit .300, he also hit .302 in 1954, when a knee injury limited him to 65 games and started the decline that cut off his career a year later after just nine seasons. His career high in HR was just 10 (1950), but he led the AL in doubles in 1952. However, his greatest value lay in his ability to get on base: his on-base percentage was above .400 every year of his career, finishing at .425 lifetime. He walked 100 times in five seasons, and was in the AL top five every season he was healthy; only once did he strike out more than 37 times in a season.

Fain was considered the best-fielding first baseman in the league until Vic Power came up. Although he tied the AL record by leading in errors five times, he was a daring, far-ranging fielder who was the first first baseman to regularly field bunts on the third base line. He holds the ML record for double plays in a season with 194 in 1949; it broke the previous record by 31 (his 192 in 1950 is second). He set the since-tied AL record for double plays in a nine-inning game (six on September 1, 1947 in the second game). He led the league four times in assists and twice each in total chances per game and double plays, and ranks third all-time among first basemen in assists per game.